It is interesting how many times Abraham actually moved, and it didn’t seem to matter what the people were like, spiritually or physically. Where ever he went he taught people about God. After Sodom was destroyed and before Isaac was born we run into an interesting story. Abraham moves to southern Philistia, where the very tall Philistines’ lived. Once there however we find that the King Abimelech already has a personal relationship with the Lord. Abraham is surprised that they feared the Lord in their land. Abimelech is the King of Philistia, and his name means my father the king or the father of a king. It must have been a cultural practice in the time of Abraham for a king to take a women he liked after killing her husband, because as it was in Egypt, Abraham told Sarah to say she was his sister. Later Isaac does the same with Rebekah also in Gerar. Abraham leaves richer then he was when he entered Gerar, just like with Egypt. So maybe it was also a custom that if the king wronged someone he gave them a lot of wealth as Nimrod also did with Abraham.
Jasher 20:1And at that time Abraham journeyed from the plain of Mamre, and he went to the land of the Philistines, and he dwelt in Gerar; it was in the twenty-fifth year of Abraham's being in the land of Canaan, and the hundredth year of the life of Abraham, that he came to Gerar in the land of the Philistines.2And when they entered the land he said to Sarah his wife, Say thou art my sister, to any one that shall ask thee, in order that we may escape the evil of the inhabitants of the land.3And as Abraham was dwelling in the land of the Philistines, the servants of Abimelech, king of the Philistines, saw that Sarah was exceedingly beautiful, and they asked Abraham concerning her, and he said, She is my sister.4And the servants of Abimelech went to Abimelech, saying, A man from the land of Canaan is come to dwell in the land, and he has a sister that is exceeding fair.5And Abimelech heard the words of his servants who praised Sarah to him, and Abimelech sent his officers, and they brought Sarah to the king.6And Sarah came to the house of Abimelech, and the king saw that Sarah was beautiful, and she pleased him exceedingly.7And he approached her and said to her, What is that man to thee with whom thou didst come to our land? and Sarah answered and said He is my brother, and we came from the land of Canaan to dwell wherever we could find a place.8And Abimelech said to Sarah, Behold my land is before thee, place thy brother in any part of this land that pleases thee, and it will be our duty to exalt and elevate him above all the people of the land since he is thy brother.9And Abimelech sent for Abraham, and Abraham came to Abimelech.10And Abimelech said to Abraham, Behold I have given orders that thou shalt be honored as thou desirest on account of thy sister Sarah.11And Abraham went forth from the king, and the king's present followed him.12As at evening time, before men lie down to rest, the king was sitting upon his throne, and a deep sleep fell upon him, and he lay upon the throne and slept till morning.13And he dreamed that an angel of the Lord came to him with a drawn sword in his hand, and the angel stood over Abimelech, and wished to slay him with the sword, and the king was terrified in his dream, and said to the angel, In what have I sinned against thee that thou comest to slay me with thy sword?14And the angel answered and said to Abimelech, Behold thou diest on account of the woman which thou didst yesternight bring to thy house, for she is a married woman, the wife of Abraham who came to thy house; now therefore return that man his wife, for she is his wife; and shouldst thou not return her, know that thou wilt surely die, thou and all belonging to thee.15And on that night there was a great outcry in the land of the Philistines, and the inhabitants of the land saw the figure of a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand, and he smote the inhabitants of the land with the sword, yea he continued to smite them.16And the angel of the Lord smote the whole land of the Philistines on that night, and there was a great confusion on that night and on the following morning.17And every womb was closed, and all their issues, and the hand of the Lord was upon them on account of Sarah, wife of Abraham, whom Abimelech had taken.18And in the morning Abimelech rose with terror and confusion and with a great dread, and he sent and had his servants called in, and he related his dream to them, and the people were greatly afraid.19 And one man standing amongst the servants of the king answered the king, saying, O sovereign king, restore this woman to her husband, for he is her husband, for the like happened to the king of Egypt when this man came to Egypt.20And he said concerning his wife, She is my sister, for such is his manner of doing when he cometh to dwell in the land in which he is a stranger.21And Pharaoh sent and took this woman for a wife and the Lord brought upon him grievous plagues until he returned the woman to her husband.22Now therefore, O sovereign king, know what happened yesternight to the whole land, for there was a very great consternation and great pain and lamentation, and we know that it was on account of the woman which thou didst take.23Now, therefore, restore this woman to her husband, lest it should befall us as it did to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his subjects, and that we may not die; and Abimelech hastened and called and had Sarah called for, and she came before him, and he had Abraham called for, and he came before him.24And Abimelech said to them, What is this work you have been doing in saying you are brother and sister, and I took this woman for a wife?25 And Abraham said, Because I thought I should suffer death on account of my wife; and Abimelech took flocks and herds, and men servants and maid servants, and a thousand pieces of silver, and he gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah to him.26And Abimelech said to Abraham, Behold the whole land is before thee, dwell in it wherever thou shalt choose.27And Abraham and Sarah, his wife, went forth from the king's presence with honor and respect, and they dwelt in the land, even in Gerar.28And all the inhabitants of the land of the Philistines and the king's servants were still in pain, through the plague which the angel had inflicted upon them the whole night on account of Sarah.29And Abimelech sent for Abraham, saying, Pray now for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that he may put away this mortality from amongst us.30And Abraham prayed on account of Abimelech and his subjects, and the Lord heard the prayer of Abraham, and he healed Abimelech and all his subjects.
Jubilees records:
Jubilees 16:10 And in this month Abraham moved from Hebron, and departed and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur in the mountains of Gerar. 11. And in the middle of the fifth month he moved from thence, and dwelt at the Well of the Oath.
Josephus records:
1. ABRAHAM now removed to Gerar of Palestine, leading Sarah along with him, under the notion of his sister, using the like dissimulation that he had used before, and this out of fear: for he was afraid of Abimelech, the king of that country, who did also himself fall in love with Sarah, and was disposed to corrupt her; but he was restrained from satisfying his lust by a dangerous distemper which befell him from God. Now when his physicians despaired of curing him, he fell asleep, and saw a dream, warning him not to abuse the stranger's wife; and when he recovered, he told his friends that God had inflicted that disease upon him, by way of punishment, for his injury to the stranger; and in order to preserve the chastity of his wife, for that she did not accompany him as his sister, but as his legitimate wife; and that God had promised to be gracious to him for the time to come, if this person be once secure of his wife's chastity. When he had said this, by the advice of his friends, he sent for Abraham, and bid him not to be concerned about his wife, or fear the corruption of her chastity; for that God took care of him, and that it was by his providence that he received his wife again, without her suffering any abuse. And he appealed to God, and to his wife's conscience; and said that he had not any inclination at first to enjoy her, if he had known she was his wife; but since, said he, thou leddest her about as thy sister, I was guilty of no offense. He also entreated him to be at peace with him, and to make God propitious to him; and that if he thought fit to continue with him, he should have what he wanted in abundance; but that if he designed to go away, he should be honorably conducted, and have whatsoever supply he wanted when he came thither. Upon his saying this, Abraham told him that his pretense of kindred to his wife was no lie, because she was his brother's daughter; and that he did not think himself safe in his travels abroad, without this sort of dissimulation; and that he was not the cause of his distemper, but was only solicitous for his own safety: he said also, that he was ready to stay with him. Whereupon Abimelech assigned him land and money; and they coventanted to live together without guile, and took an oath at a certain well called Beersheba, which may be interpreted, The Well of the Oath: and so it is named by the people of the country unto this day.
Something we have to realize is that Sarah was about 89 years old. I do not know anyone that looks so beautiful at 89 that a King, half her age would want to take her for a wife. Once again Sarah was wed to a king without consummation. God protected Sarah for the sake of salvation of humanity.
Abraham was thinking that the king did not fear God, but we have to observe that Abimelech did fear God, and responded personally to the Lord (in his dream). How did Abimelech know about Elohim? We have to remember that Abraham made disciples where he went, but he had not been in Gerar before. Yet Melchizedek, Shem, did live nearby in Salam, Jerusalem. With the school of God that Shem had established in Salam, the knowledge of Elohim was spreading throughout the region. With an established location in Jerusalem, and Abraham moving all over the Middle East, there became pockets of people who believed in God. This is why some ancient religions seem so close to following the bible. This is another function of the Melchizedek Priesthood, of which we are a part, teaching others.
Gen 20:1-18 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.3 But God (Elohim)came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord (Yahweh), wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.6 And God (Elohim) said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God (Elohim) is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.17 So Abraham prayed unto God (Elohim): and God (Elohim) healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.18 For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.KJV
When we see the mixing of the usages of God and Lord in the bible we have to wonder why this mystery exists. When we see God we have to think Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. When we see Lord as in Yahweh, we have to define who of the Father Son or Holy Spirit that is. It becomes confusing when we try to explain form the English language the Trinity because the idea of three beings, which is a Hebraic and an Aramaic understanding, seems strange as we are using what we think of as a singular word. The idea of Elohim being a plural, meaning three or more does not communicate in the English word God. The Greek word Theos, meaning multiple or many Gods is closer to the Hebraic understanding. Therefore it is important to identify each usage of God or Lord to find the established pattern of understanding that is truly communicated in the Hebrew. Moses freely wrote using several usages of God or Lord but something changed to make people believe there was only one God, rather than a Father a Son and a Holy Spirit. And while the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in purpose or in unity, there are still three of them and they have different functions independent of each other but not contradictory of each other.
The Exodus took place around 1457 BC. The common knowledge of the Hebrews would have been the plurality of Elohim. Cultural changes sometimes take over and eventually in time make our understanding cloudy as to what took place. Moses would have died around 1407 BC so that after that time error could have started creeping in. In Egypt there was a Pharaoh who changed religion because of a corrupt priesthood. Akhenaten changed religion from polytheistic to monotheistic to usurp the Amen priesthood. He ruled from Amarna between 1351-1337 BC. The Amen priesthood had become quite wealthy as they had started selling indulgences to people so they could go into the afterlife. Prior to this in Egypt, people were taught that their hearts had to be light as a feather to enter into the afterlife. This was depicted by a picture of a balanced scale with a person’s heart on one side and a feather on the other side. People were taught to be lighthearted. By the time Akhenaten became Pharaoh the Amen priests were selling little dolls, or statutes, and if you bought enough indulgences, you could get into the afterlife. In this period pictures depict a balanced scale with a heart on one side and dolls on the other side. Needless to say the priests became rich. Akhenaten wanted to do away with the priesthood so he established the one god theory. He had pictures depicted of the sun with rays coming down as god, Aten, and if anyone wanted to consult with Aten they had to go through him. He made himself the only connection to god and did away with the Amen temples and priesthood. He wasn’t popular and he lived in fear for his life. Because the Hebrews came out of Egypt many people in later years assumed the Hebrews had the “one God” theory. After Akhenaten’s death and the death or murder of his son Tutankhamen, Egypt went back to worshipping many gods and being spiritually led by priests.
The Hebrews who were now separated from Egypt were still influenced by Egypt. In later years Ramses decided he was not only a Pharaoh but a god. The problem was laws in Egypt did not provide for rulers to be gods so Ramses co-led Egypt with one of his sons so that he could be the spiritual leader. Fort the Hebrews under the Levitical laws, kings could not be priests and the two lines could not inter marry. But prior to Levitical law, at the time of Abraham, under the Melchizedek priesthood people were king/priests. The Levitical law made it impossible for a king or ruler to call himself God as in other cultures, and the Hebraic usage of these words clearly marks the intricacy of who the Messiah will be when he comes. Also the preciseness of the words Moses uses makes it impossible for Israel to be tricked into a multi god culture. He has clearly identified the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit from the beginning of Genesis, all in unity, and they do not work against each other. Moses makes a statement that is very often misquoted. Many people say the Lord our God is one, but that is not actually what the bible says. Moses uses his words precisely and wants us to understand them so Hebrews will later be able to identify the Messiah when he comes.
Deut 6:4-5 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.KJV
One OT:259 'echad (ekh-awd'); a numeral from OT:258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first: OT:258'achad (aw-khad'); perhaps a primitive root; to unify, i.e. (figuratively) collect (one's thoughts): (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Reading what this says Yahweh/Jehovah our Elohim is the number one, (in numerical order) Yahweh/Jehovah. Or the Lord our God is the first Lord, and we should love him with all our hearts, souls and might. Another way to read this if we take the understanding of strongs #258 into consideration, is that the Lord our God is a united Lord. If you use the understanding of united there would have to be more than one in Elohim to be unified. Most importantly we should see by this that Moses is making distinction between Yahweh/Jehovah and Elohim, and that either Yahweh is united in Elohim or Yahweh is the first of Elohim. We are not speaking of multiple personalities in one being but multiple persons. Later when Jesus announces who he is this all makes more sense. Jesus is Yahweh and calls himself I AM. Again we can see why Moses chose to identify who is who. Jesus is one of Elohim, the first, unified with Elohim.
If the Jews would have accepted Jesus as Messiah, all of these things would have been clear, to them and later to us. However we spend our days looking backward in time to piece together these mysteries so that we can know our Messiah better. So once again we see another aspect of how the idea of the trinity became obscured over time. If Elohim is in unity, putting Yahweh first, then it makes sense when Jesus says he is the first and the last. It also makes sense when he says that he was and is and is to come.
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the Lord (Yahweh)the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord (Yahweh) of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God (Elohim).KJV
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.KJV
Let’s look at Revelation 1:8, in the KJV we have it translated without the usage of the word Theos. Also added is the phrase the beginning and the ending. The American Standard translates this accurately according to the Greek but let’s compare the King James the Greek and the American Standard.
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.KJV
Rev 1:8
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
1473 1510 3588 <255 a> 2532 3588 5598 9999 <9999> <9999> 9999 <9999> 3004 9999 2962 3588
Egoó eimi tó álfa kaí tó Oó légei Kúrios ho
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
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Theós ho-oón-kaí-ho-eén-kaí-ho-erchómenos ho Pantokrátoor
(Interlinear Transliterated Bible. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.
Rev 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ASV
This is the revelation of Jesus, given to John, as the first sentence of Revelations states, and Jesus calls himself the Lord God, the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Isaiah records he is the first and the last. Moses records Yahweh is the first. It would then seem clear that we are talking about the same person throughout the entire bible. The one who was and is and is to come, is the same as Yahweh our Elohim who is the first Yahweh, as Yahweh is the first and the last and there is no other Elohim. He is the Almighty. He was (in the beginning), he is (the Lord of the Old Testament and the child born of a virgin and crucified and who rose on the third day), he is coming back as King of kings and Lord of lords. We have an incredible Lord who gave us a path in a fallen world. Let’s follow Him.
